Sri Lankan cricketers: Pakistan now off-limits after Lahore attack

Cricket is becoming the incredible shrinking game. The description applies not
only to Twenty20's runaway success, but also to the number of nations where
internationals can safely be held.

Wounded: Thilan Samaraweeraat is led away by medics after being woundedPhoto: AFP

By Simon Briggs

7:25AM GMT 04 Mar 2009

Yesterday's attack in Lahore has effectively eliminated Pakistan as a potential venue for years. New Zealand moved quickly last night to call off their tour later this year. And given that Zimbabwe is already off-limits for most tourists, while few countries are prepared to stage loss-making visits to Bangladesh, the family of cricket is contracting.

"I think it is difficult to see international cricket being played in Pakistan in the foreseeable future," said Haroon Lorgat, chief executive of the International Cricket Council, in London yesterday.

Lorgat said the ICC was not yet ready to remove Pakistan from the group of four subcontinental nations who are supposed to be hosting the 2011 World Cup. The decision will not have to be made until 12 months before the opening ceremony. But he did admit "it will be very challenging for us to be convinced Pakistan would be a safe venue.".

Debates over safety will extend beyond Pakistan in the coming weeks. The Indian Premier League is due to begin in Jaipur on April 10, and concerns are already growing among the players' unions that security arrangements may have to be beefed up.

Tim May, chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations, has written to the IPL to suggest that player representatives should be consulted during the "evaluation and construction" of all security plans.

"There is a general elevation of concern for any event following an incident like today's," May told The Daily Telegraph. "Particularly in countries where there have been recent terrorist activities."

The attacks in Lahore fit into a broader pattern of fundamentalist violence, including not only the Mumbai raids of November but also the co-ordinated bombings of Jaipur marketplaces last May. Those blasts killed 63 and came close to persuading a number of Australians, including Shane Watson, Shane Warne and Darren Berry, to quit the IPL and fly home.

It will not help the IPL's cause that the Indian home minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, put out a request yesterday for the tournament to be delayed. He argued that the clash of dates with general election polls, which run from April 16 to May 15, will put extra demands on security and make it harder to police matches.

The suggestion has been knocked back, unsurprisingly, by IPL commissioner Lalit Modi, who says he will be happy to reschedule some individual games. But it will raise further concern around a competition which could yet be hit by a wave of pull-outs.

Pakistan's search for neutral venues could lead to matches in England. Cricket Australia said it is working on a three-Test series against Pakistan in England in July 2010.